Is Easter Really a Christian Celebration? ??

[John Lindsay Barltrop]

@Bible Speaks Yes I read that article.........and "..........the Holocaust Museum is concerned about Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia!" ............also very interesting is how several other non- witnesses individuals and organisations are against what is occurring to our Brothers in the Russian Federation. 

[Bible Speaks]

Just now, John Lindsay Barltrop said:

@Bible Speaks Yes I read that article.........and "..........the Holocaust Museum is concerned about Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia!" ............also very interesting is how several other non- witnesses individuals and organisations are against what is occurring to our Brothers in the Russian Federation. 

@John Lindsay Barltrop Many more desirable things or people will come out. I have lots of religions following me, ministers, news commentators, it is amazing! Since I went public, they are all curious about us and what we believe. I can send you link it's Instagram. I also do Tumblr but less there. I enjoy photography so that's where I get my pictures. Have a good day! Soon Memorial ????

[John Lindsay Barltrop]

@Bible Speaks.......that is certainly good news to hear..........unfortunately, I do not become involved with Facebook, twitter, Instagram,etc.............I can get into enough trouble 'technologically speaking" with just my "not very smart phone" that I use for pone calls and messaging and my PC is OK for what I want, and my old Apple I Pad for witnessing...........I bought a new car a couple of weeks ago.........top of the range Subaru Impreza.........I still do not know how most of electronic technology on it works............maybe one day????

BUT had a good day nearly 7 hours on the territory  and rv's, same tomorrow......and then,as you said the Memorial.........hopefully some of those invited will attend..........guess we'll just have to wait and see???

[Bible Speaks]

@John Lindsay Barltrop Enjoy your day!

i have 1,000's more coming non witnesses. They are being drawn! Thank Jehovah more will come. Of course many speak other languages, I must translate but so far so good! ?

I learned computers on my own and by mistakes! Ha! My Granddaughters taught me some too!

if we had 20 million last year at Memorial maybe (?) I'm sure more, can't guess not that good ? 

Are you behind or ahead in time? It's 10:07 am here Monday?

Take care, don't overdo, my famous words I must live by. 

?????

[John Lindsay Barltrop]

@Bible Speaks It is nearly midnight here on Monday........must go to bed now........other wise I will not get up tomorrow morning..........so goodnight..........hear from you sometime tomorrow.

[Ann O'Maly]

15 hours ago, Eoin Joyce said:

Which day is this?

I would think Easter Sunday.

14 hours ago, JW Insider said:

By the way, the references linked as 6,7,8,9 in the quote above point to some overlapping evidence, most of which sounded very weak to me.

Hm. Yes.

I thought the section on Lent was interesting - that eating eggs, meat and dairy was forbidden by the church during that fasting period, but hens would continue to lay eggs, so when Lent was over, there would be a stockpile of eggs to use up and that may partly account for eggs being part of Easter traditions. And then there's the symbolism related to Jesus' tomb - like the egg, it looks dormant on the outside but new life emerges from it.

Again, as I've said elsewhere about the cross and some Christmas customs (and as the Awake! said about piñatas), regardless of what pagans did with artefacts in the past, Christians viewed them differently and endowed them with Christian meanings. E.g. pagans had their blood sacrifices, but I'm sure a JW wouldn't try to argue that Jewish animal sacrifices or Jesus' human blood sacrifice are of pagan origin and are therefore God-dishonoring. Some depictions of the goddess Artemis have her with a watch tower crowning her head. Does this mean the Organization is using a pagan symbol for its logo? No. The Org's symbol comes from Bible verses.

 

[JW Insider]

@Bible Speaks There is still no evidence that Easter has anything to do with Ishtar. Seriously, it's no more of a link than to claim that Easter came from Queen Esther, or even that eggs contain cholesterol. I'm sure it's true that there was a lot of folklore that claimed there was a "god" of the West, North, South, and, of course, also the East (the dawn), but this is not so different than saying that there is an angel in charge of each of the four corners (directions) of the earth. 

(Revelation 7:1, 2) . . .After this I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding tight the four winds of the earth, so that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. 2 And I saw another angel ascending from the East* [NWT, footnote]

There are non-Christian religious commentators that would look at that phrase in Revelation 7:2 and say that Christians have a 'god' or 'goddess' of the sunrise. In fact the current NWT translates the word "east" here as "sunrise" (dawn). An early name of Bible Students who followed the Watchtower was Dawn, Dawners, and Millennial Dawn. If someone came along and said that early followers of the Watchtower were based on pagan religion who worshiped pyramids and a god of the Dawn, we would rightly be upset at being misjudged. Yet this is what we are trying to do others when we 'paint with such a broad brush.'

It's true that Eggs and Rabbits are fertility symbols, just like spring flowers, and birds and bees and "dogwood trees" are also fertility symbols. Obviously it makes no sense to add flowers, and rabbits, and eggs and "peeps" (marshmallow baby chicks) to a celebration that should have been about the joy of Christ's resurrection. But this doesn't mean that we need to imply that all persons who want to celebrate Easter are "Babylonish" and wicked. Remember that with the measuring cup we are measuring out, we will be judged in return.

The Jews came up with several new special holidays (or fast days) to commemorate the terrible events that befell their capital city, their government, and their Temple at Jerusalem.

*** it-1 p. 812 Fast ***
Four Annual Fasts of the Jews. The Jews established many fasts, and at one time had four annual ones, evidently to mark the calamitous events associated with Jerusalem’s siege and desolation in the seventh century B.C.E. (Zec 8:19) The four annual fasts were: (1) “The fast of the fourth month” apparently commemorated the breaching of Jerusalem’s walls by the Babylonians on Tammuz 9, 607 B.C.E. (2Ki 25:2-4; Jer 52:5-7) (2) It was in the fifth Jewish month Ab that the temple was destroyed, and evidently “the fast of the fifth month” was held as a reminder of this event. (2Ki 25:8, 9; Jer 52:12, 13) (3) “The fast of the seventh month” was apparently held as a sad remembrance of Gedaliah’s death or of the complete desolation of the land following Gedaliah’s assassination when the remaining Jews, out of fear of the Babylonians, went down into Egypt. (2Ki 25:22-26) (4) “The fast of the tenth month” may have been associated with the exiled Jews already in Babylon receiving the sad news that Jerusalem had fallen (compare Eze 33:21), or it may have commemorated the commencement of Nebuchadnezzar’s successful siege against Jerusalem on the tenth day of that month, in 609 B.C.E.

They weren't condemned for setting aside these new holidays that hadn't been commanded as part of the Mosaic Law. It was a natural human thing to want to remember such important occasions. Other occasions, also not in the Mosaic Law, were set aside for feasting and happiness, such as the festival of Purim based on events surrounding Queen Esther. Another was the festival of Hanukkah that the apostle John spoke about.

(John 10:22, 23) 22 At that time the festival of Hanukkah* took place in Jerusalem. It was wintertime, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple in the colonnade of Solʹo·mon. [*NWT, footnote]

*** Rbi8 John 10:22 ***
“The festival of dedication (Hanukkah).” J²²(Heb.), chagh ha·chanuk·kahʹ.

The point is that Christians, just like the Jews, would be expected to want to commemorate both sad and happy occasions with holidays (holy days). Calling the occasion Paschal or Easter should not condemn it or force us to judge those who want to celebrate something so joyous as the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Choosing Sunday should be no surprise, and choosing the "dawn" should be no surprise:

(Matthew 28:1-6) . . .After the Sabbath [Saturday], when it was growing light [dawn] on the first day of the week [Sunday], Mary Magʹda·lene and the other Mary came to view the grave. 2 And look! a great earthquake had taken place, for Jehovah’s angel had descended from heaven and had come and rolled away the stone, and he was sitting on it. . . .. 5 But the angel said to the women: “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was executed on the stake. 6 He is not here, for he was raised up, just as he said.. . .

We have every right to point out that such a holiday is being diminished by adding fertility symbols to it, but we have no right to judge anyone on the entire idea of celebrating Easter or "Resurrection Sunday."

(Romans 14:5-9) 5 One man judges one day as above another; another judges one day the same as all others; let each one be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day observes it to Jehovah. Also, the one who eats, eats to Jehovah, for he gives thanks to God; and the one who does not eat does not eat to Jehovah, and yet gives thanks to God. 7 Not one of us, in fact, lives with regard to himself only, and no one dies with regard to himself only. 8 For if we live, we live to Jehovah, and if we die, we die to Jehovah. So both if we live and if we die, we belong to Jehovah. 9 For to this end Christ died and came to life again, so that he might be Lord over both the dead and the living.

Judging others and looking down on others makes us feel superior, but we need to put ourselves in the "shoes" of others, and think about what their perspective is. Do we really judge them all as motivated toward a fertility rite. If we were that sensitive to everything that has been tainted by some form of non-Christian or non-Jewish religion, would we use the names for the days of the week? Would we buy cut flowers in the spring? Would we include a ring ceremony at weddings? Would we go to fertility doctors who can discover chemical and biological reasons to help overcome fertility issues, instead of just praying to Jehovah? Would Christians ever allow their sons to be circumcised, knowing that this was spoken of as a fertility rite for Abraham's offspring (fertility) to be as numerous as the stars or sands of the seashore?

Do we speak out so judgmentally against Jacob for practicing the old fertility rite which was apparently the same as "thrusting the shoot under the nose"?

(Ezekiel 8:17) . . .and that they should offend me again, and here they are thrusting out the shoot to my [or, their] nose?

(Genesis 30:37-43) 37 Jacob then took freshly cut staffs of the storax, almond, and plane trees, and he peeled white spots in them by exposing the white wood of the staffs. 38 Then he placed the staffs that he had peeled in front of the flock, in the gutters, in the drinking troughs, where the flocks would come to drink, that they might get into heat in front of them when they came to drink. 39 So the flocks would get into heat in front of the staffs, and the flocks would produce striped, speckled, and color-patched offspring. 40 Then Jacob separated the young rams and turned the flocks to face the striped ones and all the dark-brown ones among the flocks of Laʹban. Then he separated his own flocks and did not mix them with Laʹban’s flocks. 41 And whenever the robust animals would get into heat, Jacob would place the staffs in the gutters before the eyes of the flocks, that they might get into heat by the staffs. 42 But when the animals were weak, he would not place the staffs there. So the weak ones always came to be Laʹban’s, but the robust ones became Jacob’s. 43 And the man grew very prosperous, and he acquired great flocks and male and female servants and camels and donkeys.

This fertility rite is credited with making him rich and prosperous. Such rites were supposed to influence God (or gods) to make the thing happen as desired by the one performing the rite, yet Jehovah never judged Jacob for believing in the fertility rite.

The Watchtower is correct to point out the fact that such fertility symbols diminish the meaning of Easter, but I think we follow a very judgmental path when we start tying Easter itself to Babylon. Perhaps it's just me, but I think it's too judgmental to make the leap from finding things wrong with Easter celebrations to then saying, as you said:

On 4/9/2017 at 4:46 PM, Bible Speaks said:

It just shows us there is no Christ in Easter. 

Really? No Christ at all? I think we do better in our ministry if we come across as less judgmental and more loving, more understanding of the perspective of others.

(1 Corinthians 9:19-23) . . .. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew in order to gain Jews; to those under law I became as under law, though I myself am not under law, in order to gain those under law. 21 To those without law I became as without law, although I am not without law toward God but under law toward Christ, in order to gain those without law. 22 To the weak I became weak, in order to gain the weak. I have become all things to people of all sorts, so that I might by all possible means save some. 23 But I do all things for the sake of the good news, in order to share it with others.

 

[Ann O'Maly]

3 hours ago, JW Insider said:

Bible Speaks There is still no evidence that Easter has anything to do with Ishtar.

Lol. Yes the 'Two Babylons' alarm was tripped again with the second set of pictures.

Quote

 

[John Lindsay Barltrop]

" But this doesn't mean that we need to imply that all persons who want to celebrate Easter are "Babylonish" and wicked."

A couple of us were talking about the very same thing this morning out in field service. The apostle Paul was mentioned.......when he was Saul, and zealous in the persecution of Christians, imagining that he was doing, a "sacred service" (Acts 8:3 ³Saul, though, began to ravage the congregation. He would invade one house after another, dragging out both men and women and turning them over to prison.)                                                                                                                               (Acts 9:1, 2) But Saul, still breathing threat and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest ² and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that he might bring bound to Jerusalem any whom he found who belonged to The Way, both men and women.) and yet after all this Paul became an apostle of Jesus Christ.                    (1 Corinthians 15:9) ⁹ For I am the least of the apostles, and I am not worthy of being called an apostle, because I persecuted the congregation of God. 
What a fine example our Brother Paul was.............I always think of the saying "Where there is life there is hope," and isn't that part of our work, as we preach the good News of God's Kingdom. to ALL peoples, around the the earth in these last days

 

[Bible Speaks]

Paul and Barnabas—Brothers Despite Differences

To say that the man had intense emotions is an understatement. Before he became a Christian, Paul was “breathing threat and murder against the disciples of the Lord.” (Acts 9:1) In time, he described his former feelings toward Christ’s followers: “I was extremely furious with them.”—Acts 26:11.

Paul made major changes after his baptism, but notoriety followed him. Some time after he became a Christian, the brothers in Jerusalem “were all afraid of him, because they did not believe he was a disciple.”—Acts 9:26.

The congregation might have continued to be wary of Paul were it not for a Christian from Cyprus named Joseph. His loving manner was well-known, and the brothers gave him the descriptive name “Barnabas”—“Son of Comfort.” (Acts 4:36, 37) Those taking the lead respected him, and he helped Paul. We read: “Barnabas came to his aid and led him to the apostles, and he told them in detail how on the road he had seen the Lord, . . . and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus.” (Acts 9:26-28) On hearing Barnabas’ testimony, the Jerusalem congregation accepted Paul. Soon, those two men began serving together as missionaries.—Acts 13:2, 3.

Barnabas must have seen good in Paul’s intense drive and direct approach. On the other hand, Paul certainly would have appreciated Barnabas’ kindness and compassion.

The Bible does mention that at one point they had “a sharp burst of anger.” Why? The account does not suggest that it was the result of a personality conflict. Rather, it reflected their differing opinions of John Mark’s qualifications for missionary service.—Acts 15:36-40.

Despite the different personalities of Paul and Barnabas, they had been able to serve together before that event. And we read that Paul and Mark later worked together again. (Col. 4:10) Thus, different personalities need not produce conflict—not then, not today.

 “I . . . appeal to you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called, with all humility and mildness, with patience, putting up with one another in love, earnestly endeavoring to maintain the oneness of the spirit in the uniting bond of peace.” (Eph. 4:1-3)

May you have peace and enjoy the Memorial. Agape ???

[John Lindsay Barltrop]

@Bible Speaks "..........and enjoy the Memorial....."

I have just returned from our Congregations Memorial, we had the late one at 2000,...............I can assure you, you will certainly enjoy. It is a new outline for the Memorial, and I thought it was truly beneficial for all, particularly those who may be attending for the first time.........that is all I will say............enjoy.

[ARchiv@L]

nice pictures YOU have here !!!!

I wish we had all this information in other languages too ....